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Cahill: I want Chelsea stay but need to play football matches

Gary Cahill insists he is happy at Chelsea but concedes he needs to be starting more matches under Guus Hididnk.

Reports last week suggested Cahill wants to leave the Blues after coming to the “crossroads of his career”, having played only once in the Premier League since Hiddink replaced Jose Mourinho.

Liverpool and Roma were linked with moves for the England defender, who is understood to fear for his place in Roy Hodgson’s side ahead of Euro 2016.

“I did have a good chat (with Guus). He was very approachable. I thought it was beneficial. Very positive,” Cahill told the Daily Express.

“I think from all that stuff that came out, obviously I want to be at the club, I signed a four year contract a couple of months ago.

“That shows I want to be here, I am settled here, have had a lot of success here and my family is settled here but ultimately I feel I need to play football matches.

“I have always been that way. It has always been in my make up to play a high percentage of games. I realise that sometimes things go well and sometimes they don’t. But it is very important for me I feel personally, even selfishly, to be playing football matches.

“You will never change me. I think it is a positive thing. You get people criticising people who are happy to sit on the bench picking up money. That’s certainly not me, I want to be out there and continue to be a big part of things if I possibly can.

“But like I said, it is a little selfish side that I have in my career. I have played a vast amount of games which has got me where I am now and I want to continue in that same vein, that same path, it is very important for a lot of reasons.”

Since moving to Stamford Bridge from Bolton in a £7million deal in 2012, Cahill has won the Champions League, Premier League, League Cup, Fa Cup and Europa League.

The 30-year-old concedes that rotation is part and parcel of being at a big club, but wants to be more involved as Chelsea aim to make up for a poor season to date with success in the Champions League and FA Cup.

“Ever since I have been at Chelsea, there has been a lot of rotation. When I first came, there was me, Ivanovic, David Luiz, JT, now Zouma has come,” he added.

“There’s always been that element because of the amount of competitions we are in and games you play. We rotate but I agree you get a vision or picture of what is going on and how you feel. In the last years when you have been up there with 85-90 per cent of games but this season has been slightly different.

“I have had loads of success and I want to keep that going, I don’t want to be stale. I’m 30. I’ve got a good few years left in me yet. I want to keep progressing and progressing means playing football matches, try and get consistency and so that it doesn’t affect my pedigree or my England chances.”

Following John Terry’s announcement that he will leave Chelsea when his contract expires at the end of the season, Cahill is one of the favourites to take over the captain’s armband next term, which could be a deciding factor in whether or not he decides to push for a move away.